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Understanding Lithium-Ion: Getting Started with Your Battle Born Batteries

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Here at Battle Born Batteries, we understand that the process of getting the basics down for our products can be a confusing one. In this blog, weโ€™ll addressย a few topics about lithium-ion batteries like charging, installation, and balancing.ย 

To begin, there are lots of different ways to charge a battery. We have several brands that we recommend and are known toย be compatible with our products, such asย Victronย orย Progressive Dynamics.ย 

How Can I Charge a Lithium-ion Battery?ย 

Our team gets this question daily, and we have aย blog postย that helps address that topic. There are three main ways to charge a system: solar, alternator, and shore.ย 

One component we often recommend is theย Victron Energy SmartSolar MPPT charge controllersย for systems equipped with solar. With Solar Charge Controllers we recommend the following settings:ย 

  • bulk and absorption: 14.4 voltsย 
  • float: 13.6 (this setting will depend on the size of solar incorporated into your system)ย 

We also frequently suggestย Victronโ€™sย IP-65 Blue Smart Chargerย because itโ€™s water-resistant,ย Bluetooth compatible and has a charging profile for lithium batteries and other battery chemistries.ย  The IP-67 is waterproof as well, and a great choice for your system. This device connects directly to the battery and is meant for single-battery charging. Itโ€™s great for those with trolling motor applications or those with battery systems connected in series.ย 

For alternator charging, we often recommend using a DC-to-DC charger or battery-to-battery charger. Theย Victron Orion-TR Smart DC-DC isolated chargerย is an adaptive, three-stage charger with algorithms for bulk, absorption, and float options. You also can mix battery chemistries safely with this device, such as your AGM starting battery to your lithium house bank. Aim for a range between 14.2V and 14.6V with bulk and absorption stages and for the float stage, 13.6V is best. While lithium technically doesnโ€™t need to be floated, a good majority of the devices out there still have a float charge mode. The batteries naturally float at 13.6V but reaching 14.6V is ideal and needs to happen in order to engage its balancing mechanisms.ย For more additional resources, check out our blogs onย charging LiFePO4 batteriesย and the basics ofย charging.

Do the Lithium-ion Batteries Arrive Fully Charged?

When we ship our batteries through ground transport, they are typically close to fully charged. Weย use a bit of the batteryโ€™s energy to testย itsย safetyย functionsย such as theย temperature and voltage current cutoffs.ย 

If we ship a battery for seaย or air shipment, we are required to discharge the battery to a 20 percent state of charge.ย Soย if you receiveย an expressย deliveryย or live overseas, you will need to charge it up when you get it.ย ย 

How Can I Monitor a Lithium-ion Battery Bank?ย 

We rely on our partners at Victron as they offer three types of BMV models for systems. Theย BMV 700,ย 702,ย andย 712.ย The differences between them areย fairly simple: the BMV 700 only monitors your houseย bank and does not have Bluetooth built in. The BMV 702ย monitors the house and starterย banks, andย gives theย voltageย on the starting battery. It also can accommodate aย Bluetoothย dongle to connect with the Victron app on your phone for monitoring.ย ย 

As for the most popular unit that we sell, the BMV 712, is exactly like the 702 as it monitors the house and starting bank but has Bluetooth built in.ย ย 

For more information about the BMVs and their ins and outs, check out our previousย FAQ blog entryย on the topic!ย 

How Can I Use a Shutoffย Switch for myย Lithium-ion Batteryย Bank?ย 

As for needing a shutoff switch for your battery, itโ€™sย great for maintenanceย and helpsย with the winterization process.ย Theย batteriesย will keepย a lot of power inย storageย as our batteries have a low rate of natural discharge, and the disconnect switch is key to make sure that you donโ€™t run down your batteries.ย ย ย 

Does my Inverter Need to be in a Ventilated Area?

Inverters need to be ventilated.ย Please note that our team recommendsย keepingย these heavy heat producers in an area where theyย canย keep cool.ย These devices are prone to overheating,ย whichย  canย shorten their capabilities and lifespan overall.ย 

You donโ€™t need toย your Battle Born Batteries to absorbย while charging,ย butย youย do want toย have them stayย in the absorption stageย forย the battery cells to balance.ย Typically,ย we recommendย 20 to 30ย minutes per battery string in parallel.ย ย 

What happens ifย youโ€™ve got multiple batteries in series?ย In terms of balancing,ย they will need to connect from theย positive to negativeย endsย for a 48V system.ย Each of the batteries contain four cells in seriesย internally, and each one has a battery management system to makeย sureย it remains in balance.ย The charge cycle makesย sureย the cells are balanced. When in series,ย itโ€™s a little more challenging to ensure that the cell packs are balanced properly due to a lack ofย bleed resistorsย (devices connected in parallel with an output of a high voltage power supply circuit for the purpose of discharging).ย The systemย also allowsย the higherย chargedย packs to bleed down to meet the lowerย chargedย packs. Itโ€™s acceptable because thereโ€™s no external balancing and the internalย balancing willย createย external balancing.ย ย 

For example, ifย aย battery is at a higherย charge, whenย you get to the top of the charge cycle,ย aroundย 57Vย or so, this battery could exceed itsย 14.4V limitย and get closer to 15V. In that case,ย you could have all the cells above the prescribed threshold internallyย and they would all start toย bleedย soย this batteryย isย dischargingย downย toย meet the other ones and that tends to keep this bank in balance.ย 

There are ways to accelerate that process.ย Forย example,ย a multibankย charger makesย sure everyย charge cycleย keepsย eachย battery inย the same state of charge.ย Generally,ย if youโ€™ve got a 48V bank and you are keeping themย regularlyย atย 57V onย each charge cycle,ย then theyโ€™ll remain balanced. Itโ€™s possible to reach the high voltage limit onย one ofย theย batteriesย if one cell exceeds that threshold,ย the limit willย cut off the charging current toย allย the additional batteries. Since you could have aย smaller imbalance for many reasons,ย like temperatureย extremes orย high loads,ย it then would be possible for the cutoff to happen lower thanย 57.6V,ย evenย atย 57.2V orย lower. In that case, there’s nothing wrong with lowering that bulk absorption down toย 57V orย even lowerย until that cutoff stops happening.ย Then over time raising it up because the batteries will be more and more imbalanced.ย ย 

In short,ย even though there is no external balancing,ย the internal balancing willย provideย some external balancing,ย keeping the packs in balance with each other in a series systemย operating atย 24V, 36V, or 48V.ย 

As for balancing the lithium-ion batteries, we typically expect them to be charged up to 14.4Vย asย thatโ€™s when the passive balancing mechanism kicks in. If youโ€™re floating atย 13.6V,ย thereโ€™s no balancing happening and youโ€™reย notย going to balance the cells until you charge it up to around 14.4V, orย at least 14.2V.ย This wonโ€™t be required if youโ€™ve got a solar charge controllerย or if you have aย battery-to-batteryย charger for alternator charging. These devices can accommodateย 14.4V onย everyย charge,ย so you donโ€™t need toย worryย about it.ย ย 

If youย donโ€™tย typically charge at up toย 14.4V yourย cells may get a bit out of balance because of temperature extremes or larger loads.ย Toย rebalanceย yourย system,ย we recommend being able toย charge it up to 14.4Vย once a month or even once a week. Please note that itย dependsย on your system usage. You may not notice anything,ย butย if theย batteries are hittingย high voltageย disconnect sooner than youโ€™d expect,ย for exampleย atย 14V, or if theyโ€™re hitting low voltage disconnect sooner than youโ€™d expect,ย such asย atย 11.5Vย ,ย then you may want to think about rebalancing theย battery cells internally and all youย mustย do is charge it up toย 14.4V inย order to rebalance the cells.ย ย 

What is High Voltage Disconnect and What Could Happen to my Battery Bank?

Whatย isย high voltage disconnect? Whenย one of the cells exceeds a certain prescribed voltage, the lithium-ion battery will prevent a charging current fromย entering. That means the cells can no longerย receiveย aย chargeย toย exceed voltage that puts them out of operational specs. In high voltage disconnect, it isnโ€™t disconnectedย fromย your system. Even though the battery wonโ€™t take a charge current,ย it will always allow a discharge current. As soon as you start trying to draw current from the battery whileย it’sย in high voltageย disconnect, it can still power your system with that current.ย ย 

If you have any additional questions or concernsย about yourย lithium-ionย battery bank, check out theย otherย blogย entriesย from this series. Ourย YouTube channelย alsoย addresses plenty ofย topics. Lastly, if you need additional assistance, please contact our sales and tech team at 855-292-2831 or send an email toย [email protected].ย ย 

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